The Gumboot Greener: Making new plants from old

Who doesn't love getting new plants, and who doesn't desire a full garden? Plants cost money though right? This is where making more plants from cuttings or seedlings comes in, and who doesn't love free plants! I have been trying to make new plants from the plants we already have growing here. I know they grow well here too, so that's a big plus. I have been collecting seeds, taking cuttings, foraging for plants that put out root runners from their branches and taking pieces from other people's gardens- like my mother in law's. So I thought I would show you some of the plants I am reproducing this way.

First up I have Lavender. These cuttings were taken from a beautiful large plant we had growing at the front door of our old home. There are two Lavender plants already in our garden. They are a bit spindly and one is planted in a not so ideal spot. Hoping to get my cuttings well established before considering moving or removing those ones. I planted all three of these cuttings into the centre garden in front of our back patio. This is my sort-of herb garden.

I recently cut this one right back to encourage bushier growth

Can you see this one here amongst the strawberries?

The third of my original cuttings. Trimmed right back to encourage growth

This cutting came from one of the Lavender plants already growing here

Next I have Abutilon, or Chinese Lantern. I was not familiar with this plant at all before moving here. This one is growing quite gangly. I am unsure if they should look fuller than this, or whether that is just how they are. Whilst cleaning up the gum tree waste at its base, I discovered that the long dropping branches resting against the earth had sent out roots. I believe this is called Layering. Perfect, new plants! I cut two new plants and put them in the same area that this one is growing. Hopefully they will fill this spot out more.

Our original Abutilon - Chinese Lantern

Long gangly branches

New plant taken from the old one

My second new plant

I have fallen in love with Salvia. Again, this is a plant I knew nothing about before moving here. It's not looking the best at the moment. It is at the end of flowering and a lot of its leaves are turning yellow. You can eat the flowers, they have sweet nectar in their bases. Toss them in a salad for good colour. Our guinea pigs eat Salvia. Leaves, flowers, stems, the lot. They are in bloom most of the year and look lovely.

Salvia Greggii

Nice big plant

I took these plants from the base of the larger one. They are either growing via layering, or maybe it puts up shoots from the roots? Many are growing under the main plant. I just pulled out three and placed them in various spots around the garden.

This one is right near our patio

I planted this one under the gum tree near our water tank.

This final one is in the embankment created by the waste dirt when the pond was dug.

A really easy plant to grow from cuttings is Rosemary. My mother in law introduced me to her method of growing this plant back at our old home. Our neighbour had a lovely bush growing in their garden and she cracked a piece off and stuck it in the dirt in our front yard. Within a few seasons we had our own glorious bush growing. Sadly our neighbour's bush died. I never did take a cutting from that plant, but I had always had one growing in a pot that came with us here. It wasn't really growing that well and I have since added it to our garden. After trimming it up to encourage more growth I popped the waste cuttings in various places around the garden. Let's see how they go shall we.

Rosemary cutting

More Rosemary

These Nasturtiums self seeded down the back garden. About fifteen came up, so I dug them up and moved them up closer to the house as well as putting some in the various other garden plots. These ones seem to have been protected by the gum tree and are doing fine. Some of the more exposed ones got burnt badly on a cold day. They are reshooting new leaves though, so not all is lost.

Nasturtiums

Another self seeded plant I have discovered in abundance here is the pansy. They have been coming up everywhere. I moved these two to the raised bed on the East side of our home and they are growing great there. Something is eating the flowers though. I could very well be the slug that is devouring my Passionfruit vine that is growing right next to them.

Pansy growing well

Something is eating the flowers unfortunately

This is a Euphorbia about to bloom. It is growing under our Banksia Rose. It looks lovely once the flower heads are established.

Euphorbia

Here is a photo pf the new shoots coming up from the base. I am including these here as I had a mystery plant come up in the raised bed on our patio. I am now fairly sure it is a Euphorbia.

New Euphorbia shoots

Here is a close up of it when it first grabbed my attention. I thought it was a weed, but I give everything a chance until I know what it is for sure.